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It didn't take long after the news broke about the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision tossing out a key piece of the Voting Rights Act for the fears of voting advocates, or the hopes of VRA critics, to be realized.

In Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, Douglas Rushkoff cautions against living in the perennial, virtual now. "It's very hard for us to orient ourselves," he says, "to look forward to things, to join movements with goals, to invest in the future."

President Obama on Monday designated five new national monuments, including one in Maryland dedicated to anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman and another setting aside Washington state's San Juan Islands.

America is facing a blood shortage -- a shortage of dog blood. Whether Fido tangles with a car and loses, or Barky contracts a blood-damaging disease, dogs -- like their people -- sometimes need transfusions. And while there's no centralized Red Cross for Rover, there are a few commercial canine blood banks across the country, and many veterinary schools do their own blood banking.

Salad producers haven't succeeded in banishing E. coli and other dangerous microbes from fresh greens, though they've tried hard. As we've reported before, it's a major challenge to both growers and the environment. But one scientist thinks he's making progress - with a spinach spa that zaps bad bugs with ultrasound.

Cities have plenty of reasons to care about how much food is being produced within their limits - especially now that community and guerilla gardeners are taking over vacant urban lots across the country. But most cities can only guess at where exactly crops are growing.

Congress removed the gray wolf from federal protection last month. Many locals and some conservationists in the Mountain West agree the delisting may not be the worst thing.

New York Times "Phys Ed" columnist Gretchen Reynolds has some simple advice for staying healthy: Stand up. Move around. In her new book, The First 20 Minutes, she explains the hazards of a sedentary lifestyle, and details some of the surprisingly simple ways to stay fit.

Patrick Awuah left a career at Microsoft to chase a dream: to found a liberal arts college in his native Ghana. He believes that better education will foster better leaders in Africa.

In his new collection, Tenth of December, short-story master George Saunders' quirky blend of dystopian fiction and dark satire is tempered by a new gravity. Critic Michael Schaub calls the book Saunders' best yet, filled with stories that are "as weird, scary and devastating as America itself."